Swiss Arms 186 (Patreon)

Swiss Arms

Chapter 186

-VB-

Ever since the end of the war and the inclusion of basically half of the future(?) Switzerland under my control and two-thirds under the Compact, I have been consolidating.

Because I kind of needed to. 

[County of Fluelaberg]

Official Name: County of of Fluelaberg-Rheintal-Glarus-(4+)

Government Type: Hereditary Monarchy

Liege Lord: King of the Germans/Holy Roman Emperor

Member Nation: Holy Roman Empire

Military Power: Regional Leader

Economic Power: Minor Continental

Political Power: Minor Continental

Influence: Minor Continental

Technological Power: Minor Continental

Stability: B-

Cohesion: C

The biggest change was the absolutely tanked cohesion. Because my lands now extended beyond Fluelaberg and Rheintal, the System took into account the status and leanings of the people living in those new lands as well. 

You know, the same lands that I burned and lightly “pillaged” after the Battle of Ricken Pass. 

And they were causing problems. 

Stability and Cohesion, as I had learned before, were internal representations of the state as a whole, and each corresponding letter had meaning to them that wasn’t clear at first but I now understood it now. 

S and A were the “good” ratings. Anything in those ratings was something I didn’t have to particularly pay attention to. 

B and C needed attention, and meant that the topic at hand could withstand maybe one shock before downgrading. 

D and E were bad. If things got that low, then it meant that I needed to get my ass on fixing it as soon as possible. 

Anything that was F-rated? It would be easier to purge and restart than to fix. 

And right now, Cohesion was at C, just one major problem away from dropping to D+. 

So what was the situation like that my Cohesion was so low? The System answered that rather quickly when I went looking (because all I had to do was press on the [Cohesion] on the screen. 

[Cohesion] County.Fluelaberg\Cohesion\Data\Factors

Bureaucracy: A- → C+

Centralization: S- →B

(NEW!) Count vs. Vassal Balance: C+

Corruption: B+ → C

Employment: A+ → D-

Internal Trade: A- → B

Internal Politics: A+ → B-

External Networking: B- → B

International Recognition: B → B+

Language Cohesion: A- → B

Law Enforcement: A- → C-

Legitimacy: A → B-

Loyalty (average): S+ → C-

Power Balance: S → B-

Prosperity: S → D+

Religious Unity: C → B

Safety (general): A+ → C

(NEW!) Strength of Count’s Military to Vassals: A-

(NEW!) Strength of Individual Vassals (average): B+

(30+)

Each of the factors had a different weight to them. Count vs. Vassal Balance wasn’t as important as Loyalty (average), for example. 

And right now, the factors dragging Cohesion down was Loyalty (average), Employment, Count vs. Vassal Balance, Bureaucracy, Law Enforcement, and Prosperity. Some of these would improve on their own. Employment and Prosperity were the ones that would, actually, considering that with the war ended, people will be able to get back to their normal lives.

The others… not so much. 

The biggest of these that I would need to solve was the Bureaucracy and Law Enforcement, mostly because of the byzantine layers of laws, agreements, rights, charters, and political inertia that protected people from sudden changes. 

Bureaucracy received higher rating based on how smoothly it operated (as designed, not necessarily on efficiency). This meant that having multiple bureaucracies that didn’t communicate with each other hampered me not just in rating but in governance. 

And what was that? 

Wasn’t that how the empire functioned?

Yes. Yes, it did. And now, my fiefdom was the empire writ small with competing cities, towns, resisting vassals, and foreign interference. 

Which meant that I needed to streamline as much as possible to gain better control over my lands.

Meaning… I was going to have to tell all of my new vassals that they no longer possessed some of the rights they previously possessed. Like guilds (as the monopoly), tax rights, tax exemptions, tolls, and stuff like that. 

“What do you think?” I asked the people before me. 

The one sitting to my right was, of course, Isabella. She had ruled my lands while I was away at war and did it well. Along with her were some of the most trusted members of the city like the postmaster, city guard captain, chief accountant, head of the miner’s guild, and Chief Kraft from Davos. Reynold, the commander of the ranger corps, was also here. 

“We need to replace all Habsburg lackeys,” Kraft spoke up first. 

I looked at him. “That’s actually a good point. Can’t have them reporting back what’s happening inside my territory.”

“Or siphoning gold for the Habsburgs or themselves,” Isabella hummed. “We’ll need to implement a census to see what you’ve gained as well.”

I glanced at her before nodding.

“They will need to be replaced then,” I said as he turned to look at the postmaster and the chief accountant. “Accountant, find me … two dozen of your most trustworthy and competent bureaucrats. Postmaster, I need at least a dozen to set up the barebones of a mailing network across my new fiefdom.”

“Your will be done, milord,” the accountant bowed lightly.

“Got it, sir,” the postmaster grunted. 

Then I turned to the guard captain and the ranger commander. “Reynold, I need eyes in my new territory. Jorres, I need people who I can trust to keep their people safe,” I said before gesturing to the postmaster and the accountant. 

“I’ll find quick and strong soldiers and guards to keep them company.”

“You will have your eyes soon, my lord.”

The meeting came to an end not too long after that. 

P-Ping! 

[Quest: Bureaucracy Lives On…

Bureaucracy is just a lasting, long form communication. Without it, records are lost and deals become obscured by time and intent. As such, you must now establish a bureaucracy to keep your newfound territories from slipping through your fingers.

Requirement:

Raise the Bureaucracy rating from C+ to B+ within five years

Bonus: 

A- Raise the rating to A-

B- Finish the mission in three years

C- Finish the mission in one year

Reward:

*Automatic one (+) to Stability

A- Stability gets a full letter grade upgrade instead of a quality upgrade.

B- Legitimacy receives a quality upgrade.

C- Siphon Stability, Legitimacy, and Prosperity from Disloyal Vassals, give casus belli to remove them from their lands and titles

Failure: 

*Disloyal Vassals gain Stability, Legitimacy, and Prosperity at your expense.]

[Quest: My Lands, My Laws

Your laws apply only as far as you can reach. So you better start reaching further than before.

Requirement:

Raise Law Enforcement rating from C- to B within five years

Bonus: 

A- Raise the rating to A

B- Finish the mission in three years

Reward:

*Your Vassals cannot oppose your legal reforms for the next five years after quest completion.

A- Increase Legitimacy rating

B- 

Failure: 

*Disloyal Vassals gain a casus belli to break vassalage from you, and lose Stability and Legitimacy.]

“Huh.”

“Dear?”

I looked at Isabella. Then I remembered that I haven’t told her about my Gamer System, only magic. I … wasn’t going to tell her about it. Magic was one thing, but a third party “system” that guided people towards a specific goal and made them superhuman while giving them an ample opportunity to fall down the “bad” path? 

Yeah, no. I knew and trusted her. The Gamer would be too much for her. 

“Just… realizing how much work we’re going to have to do.”

She sighed out loud. “True, and distance will only make it worse.”

I nodded. One of the reasons why I was able to make Fluelaberg like I wanted it to was 100% because all of it was within my reach. Hell, I haven’t even done anything with Rheintal, yet! And now, I had a huge swath of lands and vassals to take care of. But it had cut down on the Habsburg’s power, and that was worth it. 

“Well then, dear,” she said as she stood up. “It’s time to get to work.”

But my eyes could not help but look down at her chest. 

She saw my gaze and giggled. As she left the room, she swayed her hips. “Perhaps some time in the bedroom will clear your mind?”

“... Yes, it would, dear.”

-VB-

BONUS STAT!

[House Habsburgs]

Titles: Duchy of Austria, Duchy of Styria

Government Type: Hereditary Monarchy

Liege Lord: King of the Germans/Holy Roman Emperor

Member Nation: Holy Roman Empire

Military Power: Minor Continental → Major Regional

Economic Power: Minor Continental → Major Regional

Political Power: Minor Continental → Major Regional

Influence: Minor Continental → Major Regional

Technological Power: Average Regional → Minor Regional

Stability: B+ → C-

Cohesion: B

[Kingdom of Bohemia]

Official Name: Kingdom of Bohemia, Duchies of Silesia, and Margraviate of Moravia

Government Type: Hereditary Monarchy

Liege Lord: King of the Germans/Holy Roman Emperor

Member State: Holy Roman Empire

Military Power: Major Regional → Regional First

Economic Power: Regional First 

Political Power: Regional First → Minor Continental

Influence: Regional First → Minor Continental

Technological Power: Major Regional

Stability: B- → B+

Cohesion: C- → B+

[The Compact]

Official Name: The Compact

Government Type: Confederation

Member States: County of Fluelaberg, County of Werdenberg, County of Toggenburg, Prince-Bishopric of Chur, Abbey of St. Gallen, Abbey of Disentis, County of Montfort

Liege Lord: King of the Germans/Holy Roman Emperor

Member State: Holy Roman Empire

Military Power: Major Regional → Minor Continental

Economic Power: Major Regional → Minor Continental

Political Power: Regional First → Minor Continental

Influence: Major Regional → Minor Continental

Technological Power: Major Regional → Regional First

Stability: B+ → B

Cohesion: C+ → C

-VB-

A/N: 

Explanations for some of the changes

The Compact lost stability and cohesion because it just got its hands on a potentially rebellious, definitely burning, and hurt lands and people formerly owned by the Habsburgs. This brings the average down. This should have cost the stab and coh more, but because these lands and people belong solely to Fluelaberg, it’s been somewhat mitigated.

No one above is average or major continental. This is because no one is that strong in the listed states. To be average continental at this time would be on par with Naples, Castile, or Aragon. You gotta be on par with England, France, Hungary, or be HRE Emperor to be Major Continental. 

And the top dog right now is the Golden Horde. Control of the northern part of the Silk Road, and having close to 300k soldiers will do that to you.